Oil Pastel Final

I gave my high school drawing class four days last week to render the still life and show me what they could do in the medium. It was their test before we move on to another media. The room felt a bit of a scramble having a bulky pile of objects off to one side and unassailed for the time period. The tables had to be arranged at odd angles and that freaked out my other classes. I also am pretty frustrated with the lighting. There is no way except in a patchy tenuous teetering way to focus light where I want it. Shadow is so important to a still life. It is what animates it.
But here is what they did. Starting with my favorites:

love the cropped objects

who said you couldn't edit the heck out of the set up?

look at the line? The stylization here!

great sense of light

an eager graphic designer

I'd love to see this student paint

What crazy light reflecting off the plastic spotted cloth!

drapery looks convincing

a darkly romantic painter

Everything looks windblown, off to the side!

yikes! Where is this kid going?

Hard to believe they were all looking at the same thing!

The last one is my favorite too. They are all really satisfying to me. The kids used their eyes, they filled the page, they edited and  cropped. I had to give them all A's. Maybe I am too easy. I love their individuality and spunk as well as the grace and clumsiness. It is weeks like this that I love my job. Everyone is working for their best. I'm  hoping the kids can try this at home.